How hard is it to make your own product line?

After the law school idea took a dive, I really took a step back and thought about what I wanted to do. I love detailing and learning about new products, but the idea of a small business(long term) doesn't really appeal to me. I've been thinking about starting my own OTC product line in an attempt to bring a higher grade of product to most consumers at a reasonable price. For the most part the OTC market has been unchanged minus the expansion of Surf City Garage (which is awesome), and they have been flourishing despite the economy, which makes me believe that this is very possible. I saw a low stock of their products on the shelf and got worried that they were being phased out, but I saw a bunch of bulk boxes full of their stuff so that made me happy. I have a few questions about those who have developed their own line or thought about it.

What type of market were you after?
What were your end goals?
What did you do differently than others?
What obstacles did you have to overcome?
Anything else you'd like to state?

If you'd like to say it privately by all means do so. Thanks.

 

I am no scientist, but there is one formula you need to know. Innovation + the right contacts.

To truly succeed in this type of endeavor, you need to either have a business that has the resources and capacity to be cost effective over the competition, or have a business that can differentiate (What Apple is doing). If you can honestly make some products that are irreplaceable.... even one or two products, you can secure yourself a spot for success.

You can start small, contact a nice marketing firm (it really does pay off in the end) and maybe even offer small samples to different forums to get the word out. If your product is really different, you will have some room to set your own prices because there is no alternative.

Good luck to you. There is a lot more involved than what I said, but that's just some food for thought for starters!

 

dibs on being your official tester.

 

Reflect Detailing: Broom Scratch Compound.

 

ill test it out my neighbors car!

Well you can always have CG private label some stuff, then what you do with it is up to you, sell it. Use it on your own cars, etc. the possibilities are endless. find your niche and your golden.

 

One advantage you have is real world experience experimenting with other company's versions of waxes, sealants, polishes etc. in your own work. You can use that knowedge of what are typically the pros and cons of a particular product and can improve on things from a detailer's perspective chemistry wise.

 

I feel like you would have to partner with a chemist of some sort or an institution that would be willing to do the R&D with their chemists. Then you are talking patents and patent lawyers and distribution channels and so forth. Could be a fun process if you have the capital.

 

Yeah that's one of the things I've been thinking about. I was a chemistry major for 2 years in college so that might help if I can refresh on it. I need to figure out how complex it is to mix things, like making wheel cleaners and figuring out the solvents in polishes and stuff like that.

 

I would contact people like Bob Daniels (from Danase). He went the private label route. He may be willing to share some of the ins and outs of the biz.

I am sure there is more to it than just labeling CG's which is what many seem to believe but I think some like to plant that thought -- maybe help CG's biz?

 

ive seen a few detailers now, both o/s and local, bring out their own product line, and all you need to do is find a supplier, grab a few samples and tell them what you want

if you want every day products give warner chemical a call, if you want super sealants, just get in contact with the same people cquartz get their stuff from, or the colorful aquartz people hahaha

you will not make any money making the products from scratch, r&d costs are far too high, and if you had that kind of money to begin with, you wouldnt be looking for 'work'

then comes the most important part.......the branding/marketing. eg; dodo :giggle:

 

So domino,

Could Warner Chemical keep up with a high volume OTC production? I have no idea how really big they are, but if they span a couple continents they must be huge. I think I have a good name but it might be too complex for its own good, we'll see.

 

considering they make adam's products, cg, smartwax and im sure countless others found otc, id imagine they are quite large

 

The thing that I'm worried about is that I'd have to buy some derivative of what they make and not what I want to make. How much does R&D really cost? I'd rather spend more and have a unique product that isn't just relabeled or tweaked a bit.

 

well played. +1 for you.

 

I think the initial outlay would have to be pretty large, companies like this would need to see you are serious about the whole thing, may require a contract with some stipulations and guarantees. I would bet you are looking at $25,000 easy if not more for start up.

I think a few realistic variable and fixed costs would be:

- Initial investment
- R&D
- Production Costs
- Bottling and Packaging and Labeling
- Marketing / Website / Print Material
- Storage/Warehouse for production and inventory
- Distribution
- Labor

 

Starting off super small, I think I could initially get away without a warehouse or labor. Other stuff is definitely important, thanks Chas.

 

Unfortunately if you are going to a large scale manufacturer like that and your not R&D/producing your own revolutionary product (which will be a costly and lengthy process) your most likely going to have to base it off of a product they already make. I wouldn't get too hung up on that though, an APC is an APC, a window cleaner is a window cleaner, there's only so much you can do to change a pretty standard product.

This is where the right marketing comes in and we all know how that goes in the detailing product landscape. Some go the flashy route while some are more low key, it all depends on who you are targeting and what niche you want to fill.

Needless to say I've always thought about how interesting it would be to create my own line to compliment my mobile business but it just seems like more work than its worth at this point in time.

 

More work than it's worth in what regard? With what you have on your plate now or just in general?

 

And this is my opinion........ i would think it would be a more effective route to partner up with a well know company and get your name on thier products. Like paul dalton did with Swissvax, then branch from there eventually have a sub line under another company.
Makes sense to me, not sure how feasible it is.

 

Sorry, in regard to making a line strictly to compliment my mobile services. sure it would be cool to tell customers that I'm using products with my company name on them, but I think my customers are more concerned with final results.

Certainly creating a private label product line can be profitable if that's what "worth it" means to you. the amount of new brands into the industry over the past x amount of years proves this.